Written Answers Tuesday 1 November 2005

Scottish Executive

Blind and Partially Sighted People

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many training places are available for rehabilitation workers for blind and partially sighted people.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive funds Guide Dogs for the Blind to train rehabilitation workers at the Glasgow School of Vision and Rehabilitation Studies in Glasgow. There are currently 15 students undertaking the course. No further referrals have been made and it is for local authorities to identify the training needs for rehabilitation workers within their area.

Blind and Partially Sighted People

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether responsibility for training for rehabilitation workers for blind and partially sighted people will be transferred from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to a university or other public institution and, if so, when.

Lewis Macdonald: Guide Dogs for the Blind are currently in discussions regarding transfer of the initial education programme with a Scottish university. If these negotiations are positive they envisage that the initial intake would be no earlier than autumn 2007.

Blind and Partially Sighted People

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trained rehabilitation workers there are for blind and partially sighted people, expressed per 100,000 population.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

Care of Elderly People

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken against local authorities who continue to charge for "assisting with the preparation of food" in contravention of the provisions in schedule 1 of the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 in respect of social care not ordinarily charged for.

Lewis Macdonald: Only the courts can decide whether a particular local authority has acted in contravention of the law in any particular case, and it is open to any individual with a direct interest to seek a judicial ruling on his or her particular case in a court of law. The Scottish Executive has already been in contact with each individual local authority to remind them that they should not charge for assistance with the preparation of food.

Care of Elderly People

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 prohibits local authorities from charging for meals on wheels delivered to older people assessed as being eligible for free personal care.

Lewis Macdonald: No, the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 specifies the services that people can receive as free personal care and these do not include meals on wheels.

Care of Elderly People

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has provided to (a) local authorities and (b) members of the public regarding charges for meals on wheels delivered to older people assessed as being eligible for free personal care.

Lewis Macdonald: Our guidance indicates that meals on wheels services are not included in free personal care. The guidance issued to local authorities explicitly states this, and the free personal care leaflet and the Scottish Executive website, which are aimed at members of the public, both exclude meals on wheels from the services listed under free personal care.

Community Care

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what changes will be made to charges for non-residential care services from October 2005, broken down by local authority area.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally.

Community Care

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that guidelines issued by it and COSLA on the review of charges for non-residential care services will assist the clients of these services in claiming all benefits to which they are entitled and that no-one will be adversely affected by the changes in charging.

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns regarding the COSLA guidelines, published in spring 2003 and amended in December 2004, which implement changes to charges for non-residential care services by April 2006.

Lewis Macdonald: The guidance in question was issued by COSLA, not the Scottish Executive. It sets a framework of minimum standards for the protection of clients’ resources by local authorities. Service users are not adversely affected by the guidance as local authorities retain the discretion to set charging policies which are more generous than those minimum standards. The guidance includes advice to local authorities on helping clients to claim the benefits they are entitled to.

  The Scottish Executive and COSLA jointly reviewed the implementation of the guidance by surveying local authorities in 2004. Following discussions between Executive and COSLA officials about the content of the guidance and its implementation by local authorities, COSLA is currently deciding how to change its guidance in response to the review.

Community Care

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any requests from local authorities to change the level of non-residential care charges and, if so, from which local authorities.

Lewis Macdonald: No.

Community Justice

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the outcome of the consultation on Community Justice Authorities.

Cathy Jamieson: The responses to the consultation were published on the Scottish Executive website on 26 July 2005. I have today placed copies of the independent analysis of the responses to the consultation on Community Justice Authorities in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37859) along with my response to the analysis (Bib. number 37865).

Dentistry

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19403 by Lewis Macdonald on 3 October 2005, what specific funding has been allocated to General Dental Services in each of the next three financial years.

Lewis Macdonald: The additional funding allocated to the General Dental Services is £37 million in 2005-06, £80 million in 2006-07 and £120 million in 2007-08 which cumulatively amounts to £237 million.

Dentistry

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it issues to NHS dentists to ensure that adequate notice is given to NHS patients whose contracts are about to expire.

Lewis Macdonald: Dentists are provided with copies of relevant information, including the National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996, when joining an NHS board’s dental list. The National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996 contain the terms of service which dentists providing NHS general dental services must comply with, including notice to patients when withdrawing from an NHS arrangement.

  The Executive plans, as part of An Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland, to make registration a continuing and not time-limited system, with defined responsibilities for both dentists and patients.

Dentistry

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a code of conduct for NHS dentists in respect of the notice period required to be given for NHS patients whose contracts are about to expire.

Lewis Macdonald: Where a dentist does not agree to the extension of a continuing care or capitation arrangement, i.e. chooses to let the arrangement lapse at the end of the 15 month registration period, then he/she is obliged under his/her NHS terms of service to provide the patient with three months’ notice of the arrangement lapsing.

  The Executive plans, as part of An Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services, to make registration a continuing and not time-limited system, with defined responsibilities for both dentists and patients.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it views as the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long-term solutions to the current shortages of NHS dentists.

Lewis Macdonald: An Action Plan for Improving Oral Health and Modernising NHS Dental Services in Scotland includes a number of short, medium and long-term solutions to improving dental workforce.

Dentistry

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria have been applied to the allocation of Polish dentists to NHS boards.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS boards were asked to indicate to the Executive the number of dentists which they could accommodate, provided they had the appropriate facilities and support staff. The Executive allocated dentists to NHS boards after these requests were submitted.

Dentistry

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Polish dentists have not been allocated to NHS Dumfries and Galloway in the first tranche of placements.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS Dumfries and Galloway made no application to the Executive to be included in the first tranche of placements of dentists from Poland.

Dentistry

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when Polish dentists will be allocated to NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Lewis Macdonald: It is anticipated that the third tranche of dentists from abroad will be taken up by NHS boards covering remote and rural areas. The Executive have asked all NHS boards to identify their needs. As yet, there has been no request made to the Executive from NHS Dumfries and Galloway to employ dentists from Poland.

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what quantities of drugs have been recovered since 1999, broken drown by drug type.

Cathy Jamieson: The available statistics on numbers of drug seizures and quantities of drugs seized in Scotland can be found on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland website maintained by the Information Services Division of NHS in Scotland via the following link: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ho_drugoffsez03.htm .

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring programmes, resulting from the Chernobyl incident, are still in operation.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that monitoring of sheep for radioactivity resulting from the Chernobyl incident in 1986 continues on 11 remaining restricted farms in Scotland. Monitoring is undertaken by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department on behalf of the Food Standards Agency Scotland. Sheep from these farms must be monitored for radioactivity prior to being moved off farm; additionally annual surveys of whole flocks are carried out on selected farms to assess whether they are suitable for derestriction.

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the most recent radioactivity monitoring, resulting from the Chernobyl incident, took place and what the results were.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that specific monitoring in Scotland due to the Chernobyl incident is limited to sheep on a few remaining restricted farms. These farms are subject to statutory controls under the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, which require sheep to be monitored prior to being moved off farm. Additionally, an annual whole flock survey is carried out during the summer on selected farms to assess whether they are suitable for derestriction. The results of this year’s survey are currently being prepared by Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department who undertake the monitoring on behalf of the Food Standards Agency Scotland. Radiological monitoring of food and the environment throughout the UK, including a section on Chernobyl, is reported annually in the Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) series of reports, the latest of which ("RIFE 10") is due for publication at the end of October 2005.

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what radioactivity monitoring, resulting from the Chernobyl nuclear incident, has taken place since 1986.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that immediately following the Chernobyl incident, agricultural produce, other foodstuffs and water supplies were monitored so that action could be taken as necessary. In Scotland during 1987, raised levels of radioactive caesium were found in sheep in south-west and central Scotland. These farms had restrictions on sheep movements imposed. Sheep from these farms must be monitored for radioactivity prior to being moved off farm. Additionally, annual surveys of whole flocks are carried out on selected farms to assess whether they are suitable for derestriction.

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome has been of radioactivity monitoring, carried out as a result of the Chernobyl incident, in each year since 1986.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that following the Chernobyl incident, agricultural produce, other foodstuffs and water supplies were monitored so that action could be taken as necessary. In Scotland, initial restrictions on sheep movements affecting 2900 farms were put into force on 24 June 1986 and subsequently lifted. Restrictions were re-introduced in 1987 on 73 farms in south-west and central Scotland when monitoring indicated raised levels of radioactive caesium. Subsequent annual monitoring, as detailed in the table below has reduced the number of remaining restricted farms in Scotland to 11.

  

Year
Number of Farms Released From Restrictions


1991
3 Farms


1993
6 Farms


1994
12 Farms and 1 Part Farm


1995
3 Farms


1996
5 Farms and 1 Part Farm


1997
9 Farms and 2 Part Farms


1998
5 Farms and 2 Part Farms


1999
2 Farms and 1 Part Farm


2001
1 Farm and 1 Part Farm


No derestrictions in 2002, as no survey in 2001 due to foot and mouth restrictions


2003
2 farms


2004
2 farms


2005
3 farms

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farms are still restricted in the rearing or trading of livestock as result of the Chernobyl incident; what the acreage is of each farm, and what livestock restrictions are still in existence.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that 11 farms in Scotland, averaging approximately 1,030 hectares per farm, are still subject to restrictions as a result of the Chernobyl incident. Sheep from these farms are required by the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) Order 1991 No. 20 (as amended), to be monitored for radioactivity prior to being moved off farm.

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farms are still restricted in the growing or trading of crops as a result of the Chernobyl incident and what the acreage is of each such farm.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that no farms in Scotland are restricted in the growing or trading of crops. Monitoring in Scotland as a result of the Chernobyl incident is limited to sheep on a few remaining restricted farms.

Food Standards Agency

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions are in place in respect of the harvesting of shellfish or other aquatic life forms, as a result of the Chernobyl incident.

Lewis Macdonald: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency that there are no restrictions in place in Scotland relating to the harvesting of shellfish or other aquatic life forms, as a result of the Chernobyl accident.

Health

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of child deaths occurs in the neonatal period.

Lewis Macdonald: For the year 2004, there were 166 neonatal deaths registered. This equates to 62% of infant deaths (under 1 year), and 40% of all deaths under 16 years.

  Source: General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether imported paid donor plasma was used to make fractionated blood products in Scotland at any time in the 1980s and, if so, which broker and donor companies were involved.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has confirmed that imported paid donor plasma was not used to make fractionated blood products in Scotland at any time in the 1980s.

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people diagnosed with haemophilia have died in each year since 1994.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of recorded deaths where haemophilia is mentioned is:

  

1994
12
2000
4


1995
14
2001
6


1996
7
2002
8


1997
6
2003
8


1998
4
2004
3


1999
3
 
 



  Source: General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  The number of the above deaths where haemophilia has been recorded as the underlying cause of death for each year since 1994.

  

1994
5
2000
0


1995
7
2001
0


1996
2
2002
1


1997
2
2003
3


1998
1
2004
0


1999
2
 
 



  Source: General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the most common assets recovered from drug dealers have been since 1999, showing the monetary value and broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary constituency.

Colin Boyd QC: Criminal Confiscation

  Since April 1999, there have been 248 Confiscation Orders made in criminal cases where an accused person has been convicted of drugs offences.

  A Confiscation Order is an order for payment of a sum of money by the accused.

  The most common assets realised to make payment of Confiscation Orders are houses and flats, bank accounts, insurance policies and investments, motor vehicles and sums of cash seized by the police at the time of arrest for the original offence.

  The monetary value of the Confiscation Orders made since 1999 is listed in the table below. The information is not held in the format requested, but is recorded by individual police force reporting the drugs case and is shown in that format:

  

Year 
(1 April to 31 March)
Number of Orders
Monetary value
Reporting Police Force


1999-2000
15
£807,283.13
Information not held


2000-01
12
£117,284.75
Information not held


2001-02
32
£532,812.96
Information not held


2002-03
30
£560,248.89
Information not held


2003-04
1
£1,500.00
Central Scotland Police


 
2
£18,205.47
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary


 
1
£11,098.97
Fife Constabulary


 
5
£166,873.40
Grampian Police


 
8
£320,695.15
Lothian and Borders Police


 
5
£64,699.62
Northern Constabulary


 
7
£270,692.05
Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency


 
22
£349,312.22
Strathclyde Police


 
2
£51,438.16
Tayside Police


Total for 2003-04
53 Orders
£1,254,515.04
 


2004-05
1
£10,040.00
Central Scotland Police


 
2
£54,687.79
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary


 
6
£104,831.44
Fife Constabulary


 
4
£319,059.58
Grampian Police


 
10
£107,916.84
Lothian and Borders Police


 
3
£17,545.84
Northern Constabulary


 
7
£187,174.55
Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency


 
21
£383,420.23
Strathclyde Police


 
3
£37,029.80
Tayside Police


Total for2004-05
56 Orders
£1,221,706.07
 


2005-06 
(Orders up to 20-10-05)
1
£10,000.00
Central Scotland Police


 
2
£17,300.00
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary


 
3
£83,350.43
Fife Constabulary


 
6
£275,566.59
Grampian Police


 
9
£283,357.21
Lothian and Borders Police


 
3
£41,354.39
Northern Constabulary


 
3
£154,510.34
Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency


 
20
£217,490.89
Strathclyde Police


 
2
£55,701.10
Tayside Police


Total to date for 2005-06
49 Orders
£1,138,630.95
 


Totals from 1999–2005 
248 Orders
£5,632,481.79
 



  Property obtained through unlawful conduct can, without the need initially to secure a criminal conviction, be recovered by the Scottish ministers through their powers of civil recovery under part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Civil recovery does not proceed on the basis of a person having been convicted for a particular offence and it is not necessary for the Civil Recovery Unit to specify the particular unlawful conduct which gave rise to the acquisition of an asset.

  I can, however, confirm that since part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force, £988,581.99 has been realised through the powers of civil recovery. A further £1,800,854.61 has been forfeited to the Scottish ministers through the cash seizure powers contained in the act.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether consideration has been given to commissioning NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to produce a SIGN guideline on the non-pharmacological treatment of mild to moderate depression in adults in primary care.

Lewis Macdonald: In November, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Council is to consider whether to include an examination of non-pharmacological management of mild to moderate depression in adults in Primary Care as part of their work programme for 2006.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients received cognitive behavioural therapy for mild depression in each year since 2003.

Lewis Macdonald: The position is unaltered from the answer to question S2W-17214 on 20 June 2005. This data is not currently available, however the Improving Mental Health Information Programme is working with the NHS boards to standardise the information. Data sets are now being tested with outcomes expected by 2007.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase access to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for mild depression, following the recommendation in the recent National Institute for Clinical Excellence guideline that CBT is as effective as anti-depressants in the treatment of mild depression.

Lewis Macdonald: There has been a range of recent National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance relative to cognitive behavioural therapy and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland will continue to comment on and commend relevant aspects for NHSScotland as appropriate. Scottish Executive guidance has issued to help agencies in Scotland further develop and improve local access to a range of psychological interventions, including CBT.

  Access to services has been improved through the Doing Well by People with Depression Project; which already includes new cognitive behavioural therapy supported self-help and therapies at 10 sites across Scotland. Work is also underway with NHS Education Scotland to increase access to clinical psychology training places and to support the new psychology graduate training course which focuses on CBT and other therapies for adults in primary care settings.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to provide the best possible standard of mental health provision for the elderly.

Lewis Macdonald: The Care Commission regulates and monitors standards within care homes, day care services and care at home services for the elderly, including those with mental health problems.

  The NHS Health Scotland’s Later Life Programme and the Scottish Executive National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being are also working together to promote mental health and well-being in later life.

  We will continue to work with the partner agencies to ensure that approaches to mental health awareness, prevention, protection and care extend to all ages.

People with Learning Disabilities

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are registered as having a learning disability, broken down by local authority area.

Lewis Macdonald: Information on the number of adults with learning disabilities known to each local authority in Scotland is available in Annex A of Statistics Release Adults with learning disabilities, implementation of the same as you? Scotland 2004  which is available on the Scottish Executive website at  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/920/0012123.pdf

  Information is set out in the following table:

  Annex A: Adults with Learning Disabilities Known to Local Authorities, September 2004

  

 
Males
Females
TotalAdults
Adults Known Per 1,000 Population


16-20
21-64
65+
Total
16-20
21-64
65+
Total


Aberdeen City
21
282
43
346
9
205
36
250
596
3.5


Aberdeenshire
170
641
66
877
80
470
76
626
1,503
8.1


Angus
63
160
8
231
45
175
10
230
461
5.2


Argyll and Bute
27
119
18
164
10
118
28
156
320
4.3


Clackmannanshire
13
62
7
82
*
38
*
50
132
3.4


Dumfries and Galloway
66
328
11
405
29
239
21
289
694
5.7


Dundee City
113
540
72
725
60
421
72
553
1,278
10.9


East Ayrshire
40
255
35
330
20
195
27
242
572
5.9


East Dunbartonshire
10
153
27
190
5
123
29
157
347
4.0


East Lothian
9
159
14
182
*
134
*
141
323
4.4


East Renfrewshire
28
93
11
132
12
195
28
235
367
5.2


Edinburgh, City of
57
936
186
1,179
38
651
164
853
2,032
5.3


Eilean Siar
10
37
6
53
*
55
*
65
118
5.5


Falkirk
29
268
42
339
18
186
23
227
566
4.7


Fife
64
422
29
515
48
332
23
403
918
3.2


Glasgow City
324
1,203
148
1,675
174
929
141
1,244
2,919
6.1


Highland
49
331
33
413
31
281
35
347
760
4.4


Inverclyde 
27
172
13
212
19
138
23
180
392
5.8


Midlothian
13
165
29
207
7
163
40
210
417
6.5


Moray
20
192
6
218
22
148
11
181
399
5.6


North Ayrshire
19
265
37
321
18
203
33
254
575
5.2


North Lanarkshire
89
698
155
942
154
820
134
1,108
2,050
7.9


Orkney Islands
*
40
*
50
7
29
5
41
91
5.8


Perth and Kinross
*
221
*
248
*
143
*
161
409
3.6


Renfrewshire
40
462
48
550
22
339
56
417
967
7.0


Scottish Borders
11
169
19
199
5
121
27
153
352
4.0


Shetland Islands
13
41
5
59
*
29
*
37
96
5.5


South Ayrshire
*
184
*
192
*
155
*
160
352
3.8


South Lanarkshire
52
492
27
571
31
408
21
460
1,031
4.2


Stirling
7
158
26
191
13
133
22
168
359
5.1


West Dunbartonshire
32
208
9
249
16
157
11
184
433
5.8


West Lothian 
21
266
20
307
11
206
16
233
540
4.2


Scotland 
1,475
9,722
1,157
12,354
945
7,939
1,131
10,015
22,369
5.4



  Source: The Same As You? Annual Survey, 2004.

  Similar information is not available for children with learning disabilities.

Police

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers in Tayside Constabulary are eligible for retirement in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) 2008.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following table.

  

Year
No. of Officers Eligible for Retirement in Tayside


2005
37


2006
30


2007
36


2008
47

Residential Care

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest available information is on the average weekly cost of the provision of residential care for a child.

Robert Brown: Average weekly costs of secure and non-secure residential care for a child need to be considered separately. The latest available information is as follows:

  
The average weekly cost of non-secure residential care for a child was £1,647 in the 2003-04 financial year.
  The average weekly cost of secure residential care for a child was £3,458 in the 2004-05 financial year.

Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to bring into force the section in the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 that transfers planning authority for marine fish farms from the Crown Estate Commission to local authorities.

Johann Lamont: We intend to bring forward the necessary legislation to allow implementation of section 24 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 by summer 2006.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Freedom of Information

Mr Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it is reviewing its Publication Scheme, particularly in relation to allowances information, in the light of the experience of implementing the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act

George Reid: Yes. Since the act came into effect on 1 January this year, the SPCB has been constantly monitoring its effect on members, staff and parliamentary resources. Our aim, since the creation of the Parliament in 1999, has been to live up to our principles of openness and transparency and the act was passed by the Parliament in that spirit.

  Based on our experience of implementing the act to date, the SPCB is of the view that the current administration of the allowances scheme does not fit easily with the new freedom of information regime. We are – rightly in a democratic society – under intense scrutiny from the media and the SPCB is concerned that there is potential for the Parliament to suffer damage unless we act to alter the way in which we administer the scheme.

  We have therefore decided to move to fuller disclosure of allowances information. It is our view that the Scottish Parliament is already ahead of the field in relation to the amount of information that is published in this regard but we have decided to go further.

  A detailed breakdown of claims for the last financial year (2004-05) will be published in December. We will then move to a position where we publish information, with supporting vouchers and receipts, for 2005-06 onwards as soon as possible in 2006.

  Clearly, there are difficult issues around personal security, bank account details and third parties which need to be addressed. Allowances staff also need to address the issue of how information is to be gathered from members in order to ensure disclosure along the lines described above. We will therefore set up a joint MSP/parliamentary staff working group to consider and report on these issues, including an analysis of best practice worldwide.

  We will keep members informed of developments on a regular basis and I am writing today to all members to set this out more fully.